LoriBird: I just picked a tiny glass shard out of my foot this afternoon. I then spent the better part of an hour vacuuming and mopping because, for such a little piece of glass, it really hurt!

I was going to try using a plastic spoon to hold frit but I guess not...

I'm also a newbie and wanted to say I appreciate the laughs I mean tips. :-) Patty

If, while pre-heating your mandrel, you notice it's a little bent - don't grab it in the middle to try and straighten it out.

Little bugs make a funny sizzling sound when they fly into your torch flame.

Geez let's see....

Don't try to wipe the devit off a white rod 20 seconds after it's been in the flame...

Umm if you pull a large twistie and you have two large punties on either end, DON'T tip it vertical while you look for your nippers. The large punty on top will shatter the twistie and you'll be removing the pieces from your thigh as they melt in.

Don't reach over a boro pendant just out of the flame to cover it with a fiber blanket while putting your hand on it.

If you get two beads sticking together in the kiln, don't try to shake them apart - you'll get five beads sticking together

Trying to clean a dirty rod under your armpit after it's been in the flame is a baaad idea

Silver leaf is the devils plaything - to be avoided at all costs

Hmmm being a newbie I have lots of umm adventures to share.
1. When you lay down your rod...be careful and remember which end was in flame!
2. Never torch in shorts.
3. When grabbing a used stringer be careful of tips being very sharp. It feels like a needle stick and alas....the glass does break off inside your skin. I had a piece of glass in my finger for a few weeks and finally squeezed and squeezed and out came a nice 1/4 inch of yellow string of glass skinnier than a toothpick.
4. Hold on to mandrel tight. I once let it loosen enough in my hand for not more than a few seconds but enough to let it land on hand and stll have a burn scar.
5. Hot glass burns wood very fast.
And lastly...don't be so frugal that u try and use all glass in a rod. Small pieces need to be held closely and for some reason fingernails keep getting too close to flame:-)
Thats about all I think of now
Irene

LOL Irene! I've done all 6.

My poor wood kitchen table will never be the same...

The stringers are deadly!!!

No shorts AND, after reading this thread, no low cut tops!

How about this one.....don't ever lay the heated glass rods down on the wooden workbench surface when you go to pick up the next color...that is what the nice heat resistant surface is for that is ON the workbench where the torch is.

LOL

If two of your beads get stuck together in the kiln, DON'T grab the mandrel of the one that was in the kiln with your fingers. I'll never have the same fingerprints again! LOL
Carol

Big lesson:
You can't blow a bubble with a steel chopstick!
It really does take a hollow tube.
Joan

If you put a hot bead close to your lips and blow air on a bead to stop the movement of the glass DON'T I repeat D O N ' T get distracted or mis-judge how close the bead is to your mouth. You will be amazed at how quickly your lip can burn and how painful it is and how hard life is with a big burn blister on your lip.........ummm so I have heard...not like I was ever that stupid...... o.k. I really was that stupid. OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm a newbie as well and this is great! Seeing that all of you accomplished lampworkers have made the same stupid mistakes makes me feel better about my "brain-farts"! :lol:

I have done this too - now before I put any rod/stringer down I burn it into a little "blob" at the end. no more pokeys!

LOL! Yes, they do! Big bugs like horseflies really sizzle!

Don't use your fingers to burnish silver foil on a hot bead.

I had the lovely experience of hot glass down the front of my shirt - so not amusing.

And thanks to a conversation with Maureen before she & Lance headed to Georgia, I know to always take my watch off before I bead -- and I take my rings on my baby fingers.

Maureen had a wicked burn on her wrist where a piece of hot glass flew under the band which had to be unbuckled to remove it and I have actually had the end of a mandrel slide under a ring on my left hand. Not painful since it was cold but getting it out while keeping my my bead round since it was soupy hot was a little tricky.

So much easier to just take rings off before I start.

Carol

Now that's funny! Bonnie

I haven't decided if it will make the FBI easier or harder to find me with my fingertips, um, rearranged?

When you get two (or more :shock: ) beads stuck together - go ahead and clean them and put them in your wonky bowl. I was cleaning beads at the market when it was slow one day and had two that had joined in the kiln and a woman saw them and took them to make a funky necklace - a bolo tie? (yes I gave them to her laughing and explained they weren't *suppose* to be together). Note: you will not be able to make a co-joined bead that easy on purpose.

Variation on the thigh note: when you have a hot bit of glass land almost in the crook of your elbow - don't jerk it together or you will share the joy of melting flesh on both sides and the burns will be irritated every time you open and close your arm.

If you are tired, don't unpack and put away glass or you might swipe your arm/wrist across the ends and get a lovely horizontal cut/scars that makes people ask you if you've been depressed.

At least be prepared to have your doctor think you're a nut. Take beads to show them what you try to do.

Martha

this is such a great thread! too funny.
Ro

I *always* remember to hold the lid of the bead release while shaking...unless I need a shower or need to thoroughly clean my studio.

Quench water in a big ol' coffee cup TASTES just like quench water.

Do not try to stop a glass rod from falling with your thigh while you are cleaning them ... puncture wound on old fat thigh and rod straight through hand web space between thumb and index finger makes a mess.

Linda

I think my worst bad pre habit is I used to paint n draw alot before i started lampworking, so I have been known to take a hot stringer and tuck it either behind my ear, or in my mouth to hold... tsssssssssssssss

LOL Joan! I would have loved seeing you get all red-faced trying to blow through a solid chopstick!!!

Otter - That's one way to get the puffy-lipped look that all the models are sporting - much cheaper than collagen. Hmmm, probably about as painful too...

Yep, done that one. With Blue Sludge. Flies even farther around the studio if you use wonky beads in your bead release to help mix it. They help propel the release into even more hard to reach and outlying spaces.

#-o OMG! I thought I was the only one :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Don't think that just because you turned your torch off a minute ago you can grab the end of it to clean it. Let it sit a while.. LOL. Oh- and never never have your dog in your lap near the flame, this is a bad bad bad idea.

This is a great thread..........It soothed my stupidity meter ( iam NOT alone)

If you want to etch your beads in a glass, do a whole set. Then you can tell people it's part of the pattern. :biggrin:

Never let your cat near the torch - tails DO catch on fire.

Bonnie

I second the caution when cleaning rods. Had a jagged end slide into my hand, hit a nerve and had a "wonky" thumb for about 2 weeks. Also, know when to say when...some beads no matter how much decoration you lavish on can not be saved. Sometimes you just have to admit defeat.

Hi Bonnie! Yes, we can laugh about it now. :)

~Michelle

Ain't it the truth? I've polished many a turd in my day.